More

AGL helps Santos go solar at Port Bonython

Santos has started to use solar power to drive its petroleum processing plant at Whyalla in South Australia, thanks to a 2.12 megawatt project installed by AGL Energy.

The ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system, unveiled by Santos and AGL on Wednesday, extends the moves Santos has made over the past several months to lift its use of renewable power and storage as it follows European oil majors in adding a focus on low-carbon energy.

The plant is expected to generate more than 3 gigawatt-hours a year of power, replacing more than 6 per cent of electricity used at Santos's Port Bonython oil and gas processing operation.

The solar plant will supply more than 6 per cent of power needed for oil and gas processing at Port Bonython. 5B

Chief executive Kevin Gallagher said the project was "our biggest demonstration yet of how we can work with renewables to not only reduce our carbon emissions but also to free up more gas for the domestic markets".

Related Quotes

Advertisement

AGL's interim chief customer officer, Mark Enzinger, said the Port Bonython plant, which comprises 62 arrays of solar modules and covers 14,500 square metres, was completed on time and safely in less than nine months.

He said the combination of modular design, prefabrication and rapid deployment streamlined engineering and transferred time, cost and risk from the construction site to the factory.

The solar panel mounting system was made in Adelaide by Australian company 5B.

More than 10,000 people poured into the nation's capital on the ninth day of protests over police brutality, but what awaited them was a city that no longer felt as if it was being occupied by its own country's military.